Potential Easing of NZ Lockdown Restrictions May Bring Further Relief for NZ Dollar

The AUDUSD opens at 0.6351 and the NZDUSD opens at at 0.6027 this morning.

All locals in New Zealand will be eagerly awaiting the government's announcement, at 4pm NZST, about whether or not New Zealand will move from Level 4 to Level 3 under the Covid-19 Alert System on Thursday this week. If this is the case,many more businesses will be able to operate online. An indication as to how long Level 3 is expected to last, wil bring even more relief to businesses and will be reflected pretty quickly in Kiwi dollar strength.

Oil has traded to its lowest level since 1999, with WTI hitting a low of $17.31 a barrel. This is especially low if you consider the amount of inflation since then. The hope is this should help drag countries into a quicker recovery, with input and transportation costs being so cheap. It may also artificially keep inflation low as well, but just remember the reverse is also true if prices start going up, and inflation starts to rear its ugly head.

Central banks are generally not worried about inflation these days, as they seem to think they can just raise interest rates to cover it. This becomes significantly more challenging if unemployment is up over 10% and you are in the depths of recession. Not yet an issue, but with trillions getting printed worldwide, it is something more and more people will worry about.

Global equity markets are up, Dow +3.0% S&P 500  +2.7%, FTSE +2.8%, DAX +3.2%, CAC +3.4%, Nikkei +3.2%, Shanghai +0.7%.

Gold prices are off at USD$1,686 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices are off 7%, down to $18.3 a barrel.

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